Jean-Paul Guerlain Makes Racist Remarks on French TV

Guerlain Won't Stand For Jean-Paul Guerlain's Racist Remarks

Last week on French TV, Jean-Paul Guerlain (the last heir of the Guerlain dynasty) used a racial slur not once, but twice, while talking about the work that went into developing Samsara, a fragrance launched in 1989. As you can imagine the perfume house is distancing itself from Jean-Paul as a result, noting that the 73-year-old hasn't been a shareholder since 1996 and actually retired back in 2002.

Jean-Paul apologized in a statement, saying, "My words do not reflect in any way my profound thoughts but are due to an inopportune misspeaking which I vividly regret." Guerlain (the brand), however, calls his racist remarks "intolerable," going against the "culture, values, and ethics practiced by the enterprise, which promotes the diversity of talents of all origins."

Obviously Jean-Paul's statements are inexcusable, but do his actions impact your opinion of the brand?

If he isn't working for or a share holder of the brand and the brand has spoken out against his statements then I'm still on good terms with Guerlain. It would be odd to hold them responsible for his behavior when they aren't condoning it.

I've always been a fan of Guerlain products. They are classic, and like perfume art. Shalimar is the ultimate classic. It was the first perfume house in the world. An older French white man said something rascist? It's nothing out of the norm. The media has completely blown this out of proportion. Like someone said... it's a storm in a tea cup. I think there are more important world issues, and more worthy news. He's not a shareholder, and has no position is the company. Once more, he apologized. Whether he means it or not doesn't matter. You can't be sensitive and let people get to you, or they have the upper hand. Paris Hilten used to flash her crotch everywhere, but her perfume still sold. It was offensive to a lot of people, because little girls watch celebs.
Translated he said, "Pour une fois, je me suis mis à travailler comme un beep. Je ne sais pas si les beeps ont toujours tellement travaillé, enfin…"
"For a time, I worked like a beep. I don't even know if any beeps have ever worked that hard...."

Disgusting remarks, but it's good that the brand is standing their ground against Jean-Paul Guerlain. For that reason, I probably wouldn't boycott. But then again, I don't think I own anything Guerlain anyway.

@shaima
"What hurts me, is that it didn't make a buzz in France."
Yeah, well, Brice Hortefeux was found guilty of racial slurs by French courts and he's still in The. Fucking. Government.
So really it's sickening but not all that unexpected.

Whether I want it or not, from now on Guerlain will always remind me of what he said. I won't consider boycotting though.
What hurts me, is that it didn't make a buzz in France. They talked about it quickly on the news, that's it! I mean the man used the n word telling a story about the perfume Samsara and said " I started working like a n****, considering if the n**** ever really worked..."
So I don't buy his apologies, he's totally racist!